Barbed-wire felsfce



'(No Model.)

A. J. UPHAM.

BARBED WIRE FENGEr No, 284,261. 1 Patented Sept. 4, 1883* .flfizzwz or."

mow" mama. MWQM MM 7 WWW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW J. UPHAM, OF SYOAMORE, nssrenos TO HIRAM ELLWOOD, on

I DE KALB, ILLINOIS.

BARBED-WIRE Farms.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 284,261, dated September 4,

Application filed December 18, 1882. (No modelll To all whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, ANDREW J. UPHAM, of Sycamore, in the county of De Kalb and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements; in Barbed-Wire Fences; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. p

My invention relates to a mode of placing wire barbs upon a fence-wire so that such barbs may remain fixed for the usual purpose of protecting such fence against the encroachments of stock, my object being to provide a cheap and effective fence-barb which will not be liable to displacement.

Figure 1 is a section of wire fence exhibiting my invention. Fig. 2 shows a portion of the upper and lower wires on a large scale.

A A are posts, through and between which are stretched the lower wire, b, and upper wires,

0 c. The wire b has two sides flattened to pre-' Vent the barb f from rotating. The wires 0 c show a slight indentation at the location of the barb f, for the 'same purpose; but the act of compressing the barb f upon a round wire, as hereinafter mentioned, will sufficiently flatten the wire at the location of the barb to prevent V the rotating or shifting of the latter. The

barb f is a short piece of wire, usually one or two sizes smaller than the fence-wire,.pointed at each end, and placed upon the fence-wire by being passed around the latter, and having the ends of the barb crossed and bent back upon themselves. The barb is then, at the spot where its ends are crossed, forced down upon the fence-wire, so as to flatten or bring in line the aforesaid crossing of the ends of the barb and cause the points of the barb to project in opposite directions in the same plane and at right angles with the fence-wire. In order to cause 'each succeeding barb to point in a direction at right angles with its immediate predecessor, the wire may be twisted a half-revolution in the length of an interval between the barbs. This alternating of the direction of 'the barb is generally considered necessary in barbed-wire fences to prevent stock from getting their headsand necks between the fence-wires, as well as to prevent them from crowding against the sides of the fence.

. The barbs fmay be placed at right angles I with each other in the first instance and the twisting of the wires dispensed with by the use'of two machines or processes for placing the barb; or if the single barb-wire is twisted. with a fellow or binder wire, the result will probably be the same.

In practice I place and compress the barb f by machinery; but it may be done less speedily by hand. In all cases I place a single barb rigidly upon a single wire.

A barb made and placed as shown is cheap having its ends crossed and bent back upon themselves and firmly fixed in position by compression, as and for the purposes specified. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my'signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW J. UPHAM. Witnesses FREDERICK O. Goonwrn,

J. TAYLOR HAIR. 

